Trauma Scene Ahead
Proceed at your own risk
"NO, PLEASE NO!" Ali claws at her face and pulls at her tentacles, trying to get rid of the horrendous memories. Hot, angry tears fall down her face. She feels stuck in the past, stuck remembering. "Help me, please." She sobs. She'd wake up like this back in Octo Valley. Pictures of huge, slimy creatures looming over her as she watches, helpless. Being used, rented out like an object to creatures of all species. Ali feels her skin crawling, and breaks out in a cold sweat.
Cool, lean arms wrap around her and sit her up. They brush her tentacles away from her face and rub her arms comfortingly. "Shh, it's okay. You're safe. You're not back there anymore." A males voice cuts through her darkness. Ali opens her eyes, panting, and looks around. She's in her room, in her bed. Someone turns on the bedside lamp, shedding light on the face next to her. It's Kai, he's whispering reassurances in her ear and holding her close. Ali shivers and sniffs, wiping at the tears that had grown cold on her skin. "You're safe. You're home. You're not there. You're here." His statements ground her, and hold her in one spot. She leans into him and rests her head on his shoulder. Ali comes back down to earth, feeling her heart return to normal. She focuses on breathing, and closes her eyes, which feel heavy as lead. She feels the pillow beneath her head, and the light turns off. The cool arms stay wrapped around her as she drifts off to sleep.
...
Light shines warmly through Ali's window. Her eyes flutter open and she takes in the glory of the morning light. The first thing she notices is that she's the little spoon. Remembering last night,she carefully turns around, finding herself face to face with a sleeping octoling boy. His face is peaceful, and his breathing is light. His wide eyes twitch and then return to their state of rest. Ali wonders what he's dreaming about. She studies his face. His nose is small and pointed, his lips are small and light pink, and his skin is pale and flawless. She raises a hand and lightly brushes his tentacle from his face. Suddenly she remembers last night and winces. Embarrassed she feels her face heat up.
She studied his face for about an hour, drinking up his features and memorizing them. Then slowly he starts to wake up. First, he rolls onto his stomach, stretching out his limbs. Then he rubs his face, blinking open his wide eyes. He catches her gaze and gives that small smile he's known for. Ali returns it, "Thank you." Kai nods "Anytime." They stay like that in bed, looking at each other, not knowing what to do next. Ali doesn't know what exactly she's feeling. Longing, admiration and security all mesh together in her head to form a calamity of emotions. Kai doesn't give any insight into what he's experiencing. "We have things to do today." He says finally. She blinks "We do?" Kai sits up and stretches out his long arms "Yes." and doesn't explain. "Like what?" Ali prompts. Kai dresses himself as he gives her a list, "First thing's first, we're going to grab croissants for breakfast." Ali stares. "Then we're going to the galleria. You stick out like a sore thumb in your octo gear." He ties his shoes and holds out a hand to help her up. She takes it and stands next to him, her over sized t shirt making her look childish next to him. "Finally you're going to join me and a couple of my old flank members in a turf war." He winks and Ali blushes "So you can show me what you've got."
They grab croissants from the cafe across the street, which apparently Kai visited often, and then head towards Inkopolis Square. Ali savors the rich texture of the food, and eats hers slowly. When she looks at Kai she realizes he's doing the same. She can't get over how beautiful he is. He's got his beanie on, covering his tentacles, and his face mask is pulled down to reveal the majority of his facial features. They walk side by side until they get to Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe. They walk in and greet the shop owner, then proceed to browse the shirts and jackets. Ali is overtaken by the sheer amount of threads in the shop. The runs her hands over the many fabrics and textures, reveling in their differences. Kai holds up a red varsity jacket, and Ali is immediately drawn in. "I like that one. I think I'll get it." Kai hands it to her "It matches your eyes." He notes. Ali smiles as she hands her squid cash to the shop owner.
They proceed to Shella Fresh, and Ali looks fondly at her neo octoling boots, wondering how she'd replace them. Kai holds up a pair of punk blacks and Ali wrinkles her nose, shaking her head she scans the sneakers, admiring how they varied. A pair of Iromaki 750's catch her eye and she picks them up. They're red, like the jacket, and look sleek. "Kai, what do you think of these?" Kai peeks over a shelf and gives her a thumbs up. Grateful she'd made some money in turf wars she brings them up to the counter. Feeling renewed in her fresh purchases she heads for the door connecting Shella Fresh to Headspace, but Kai catches her arm. "Actually, I think I have something for you. Let's go." Confused, Ali follows him back to his apartment. Noticing that she drew significantly less attention already, Ali is practically skipping alongside Kai. They stop outside his apartment and Kai turns to her, "Wait here. I'll be right back." He walks inside, leaving Ali alone.
Ali turns her attention towards her clothes. The jacket is well made, and vibrant. She runs her fingers along the patches and tightly sewn seams. Then she looks at the shoes, which seem to draw in light. The stark contrast between the red and white makes them visibly pleasing. the door opens and Ali looks up from her shoes. Kai is holding a pair of red studio octophones. Ali gasps, they're just like the ones back in Octo Valley. Kai reaches up and puts them on top of her head. They're comfortable, and cover her rounded ears. "Thank you." Ali quickly leans forward and kisses him on the cheek before she can lose her wits. "You're welcome." Kai has the mask on, but if Ali had to guess, he was blushing. "You ready to go show up some chumps in turf war?" Ali gives him a devious smile "Let's go."
Waiting outside the battle grounds is a pair of octolings. One is dressed in all black, with inky black tentacles, the other is in a pilot's jacket and pilot's goggles atop a turquoise ponytail. Ali recognizes them as Aqua and Noir from the night before. They see Kai and smile and wave. Kai walks over giving them high fives. "You ladies remember Ali, right?" Aqua nods, and Noir laughs, "Of course!" Ali smiles at them and grabs her octo shot from her back. She'd decided to go along with what the other octolings were using. Noir has an octo brush nouveau and Aqua has an octo shot on hand. Kai has an octo shot as well, making them a not so well rounded team. They proceed to the waiting lobby, and looking at the roster, they're at the Manta Maria, against an all squid team. "Time to show off!" Noir sings and "boops" Ali on the nose. Kai laughs and Ali stares in awe. She hadn't seen him give more than a smile until now.
They all take the blue pills that had been given to them, and dry swallow them. Slowly, their tentacles start to change color. Ali's pink disappears and is replaced by blue. She watches herself in a window reflection. Kai, Aqua and Noir are joking about something someone at the party said last night when the buzzer sounds, ushering them out onto the launch pad.
3... 2... 1... GO!
Ali dashes ahead, splatting a path for Kai and herself to travel on. They swim up onto a ledge, and start inking from up high. Down below, Aqua and Noir are tag teaming, covering both side paths. Noir ducks into the ink, and swims ahead. Ali hears a "SPLAT" and a warble and is worried. Then she hears Noir call out "Booyah!" And is relieved. Aqua and Noir booyah back, and Ali jumps down and swims ahead towards enemy turf, hearing Kai right behind her. Standing, she starts spraying over the yellow ink. Kai has her back , covering the other side of the center. From above she hears ink fly past her head and ducks down. Someone is using dualies from the ledge. Dodging the fire Ali backs up and stands to aim, Kai right at her side, and freezes.
Keaton stands there, stiff, staring down at her. He looks at Kai and then back at her, frowning. He moves his hands to signal something but is splat in place. Ali looks beside her at Kai, who shrugs, not knowing who he had splatted. Ali stays close by Kai the rest of the match, wondering what Keaton had meant to signal. The roster says he quit the match prematurely. Feeling guilty Ali helps her team obliterate their opponents. They walk back out into the lobby, and Kai immediately pulls her aside, "Are you okay? You froze out there, did you know him?" Ali debates on whether or not to tell the truth and says slowly "Yes. And I'm fine. We just met a few days ago." Kai nods but doesn't push it any further. "As long as you're okay." Noir runs up between them and hugs them simultaneously "We CREAMED them!" Ali simply smiles and follows them over to the food truck.
Hey! I know a lot of people read and don't interact, but I want to say I'm grateful for anyone who even takes the time to read my works. Thanks for reading, and stay fresh!